INTERMISSION
Final Step of the Special Mission
The united stronghold, the Heavenly Empire.
Known as the Empire for short, the military state was led by the Imperial assembly under Lord Yunmelngen.
Over three miles underground was an assembly chamber accessible only by special elevators deep within the military affairs sector in the central base. It currently echoed with the voice of a non–assembly member.
“There’s three Nebulis bloodlines: the Lou, Zoa, and Hydra. They’ve elected generations of queens by way of the conclave…it seems.”
A single man was bathed in light.
“Basically, purebreds—witches and sorcerers who share the blood of the Founder.”
He produced no footsteps.
This man was a product of the Empire’s prided assassination unit, Special Division Six. He was known to be an expert in silent killing techniques that made no use of guns.
The Saint Disciple of the eighth seat. Nameless, the Invisible Hand of God.
Shrouded in a dark-gray suit from head to toe, he came to a stop at the edge of the round table.
“On the outside, they all act like royalty. But they’re actually locked in a rabid battle between themselves for the throne. Monsters will always be monsters. How sad.”
“Yeah? Well, I welcome monsters with open arms—if they make good prey.”
Next to the round table, a rugged soldier sat cross-legged on the ground. Though her frame was petite, the arms peeking from her tank top were hard as steel. Her long hair was in disarray, her skin was tanned, and the tips of her long canines poked out between her lips.
“Been a while since we worked together, huh, Names?”
“…So you’re still alive, Mei.”
“Ha-ha. Me? I’d spring back to life even if I died. Never has there been a more entertaining witch hunt in all of the Empire’s history.” She took a big bite of a biscuit that she fished out of a giant bag.
The Saint Disciple of the third seat. Mei, the Incessant Tempest. She was an Imperial soldier who had distinguished herself from the pack and risen to Saint Disciple from the Fifth Division—a group of fighters that trained in an undeveloped territory called “no-man’s-land.”
“…Ah.”
“Hmm? That was a loud sigh, Risya,” observed Mei. “Are you that excited to go to the Sovereignty with me?”
“No. I was just thinking about how I’ve been taking so many international trips lately. It’s so annoying. I’d rather stay in the Imperial capital forever.” Risya sighed loudly again, leaning over the table.
Risya In Empire. Her black-rimmed glasses suited her clever face. Though the tall woman was twenty-two like Mismis, she had risen to the Saint Disciple title at historic speed.
“I mean…,” mumbled Risya, facedown on the table, pointedly looking two seats over. “If Mr. First Seat is leaving the Lord’s side, I ought to hang around here as the staff officer for the throne.”
“Ha-ha-ha. Someone has a grudge. What can we do? The Lord already granted him permission.”
Both Risya and Mei were staring at a seated man carrying a thin, long sword. The redheaded swordsman sported a custom combat uniform combining armor with a coat.
The Saint Disciple of the first seat. Joheim, the Flash Knight.
He was usually tucked away in the Lord’s offices, never leaving the side of the throne for even a moment.
“We haven’t seen each other since the last gathering, huh, Jo?”
“…”
“Shy as ever. I wonder when the Lord will promote me to replace this guy. Right, Risya?”
“That’s up to the Lord.”
“You’re no fun.” Mei chucked the empty bag of biscuits at her.
All food and drink was prohibited in the Imperial assembly grounds. She was the only one to blatantly disregard this unwritten rule.
“What if I hunt down one of the witch leaders?” Mei asked.
“You mean the Nebulis queen? If you manage to pull that off…I guess the Lord might do something about your position. Well, the Lord would kind of have to.”
“Yeah? In that case—”
“That’s unnecessary,” someone mumbled, cutting off the third seat.
His voice contained the harsh dissonance of metal grinding against metal.
“Hmm? Jo?”
“I hunt the queen.” The swordsman’s eyes were closed. “Isn’t that right, Eight Great Apostles?”
“—We’re just excited that you’re excited.”
“The special mission to capture the queen will move into its final stage today.”
Vwoom. The monitors set up on the walls displayed the hazy outlines of eight people.
The Eight Great Apostles.
They unified the Imperial assembly and served as the supreme authorities of the Empire.
“Six days ago…”
“…A coup took place in their royal palace, as you’re aware. The Sovereignty is in shambles currently.”
“We, the Empire, will take advantage of this situation.”
There was an intranational plot for one of the bloodlines to assassinate the queen…and an international scheme for the elite Imperial forces to capture her.
It didn’t matter who succeeded. In either outcome, it would destroy the power balance between the Empire and Nebulis.
“Mei, are you ready?”
“Anytime, baby.” Mei licked the crumbs off her fingers. “The assassination units selected by Names and yours truly have sneaked their way into one of the neutral cities bordering the Sovereignty. All that’s left is to infiltrate. Which I think Risya is handling?”
“Everything’s ready on my end.” Risya propped up her head on her hand. “We’ve administered astral energy to the troops and checked on their artificial astral crests. They should be able to cross the border checkpoints without a problem.”
“Superb.”
“All according to plan.”
Applause rang out. It was an insipid ovation that seemed as though it had been cut from a movie scene.
“You’ll take the discussed route upon crossing the border.”
“Then split into eight formation patterns and make your way to the central state. Upon arrival, the groups will wait on standby in front of the palace.”
The Planetary Stronghold, where the descendants of the Founder resided, was a castle of mysteries that Imperial soldiers had never been able to infiltrate.
But they had obtained the palace blueprints this time.
“The palace is divided into four towers.”
“The Star Spire, the Moon Spire, and the Solar Spire. Then there is a main castle referred to as the Queen’s Palace.”
“And you will target everything except the Solar Spire.”
“—Hah!” Mei was unable to contain her laughter. “I just find that so funny. What were they called again? The Hydra? If we spare them, won’t things be too obvious?”
The Hydra were the traitors.
They were the masterminds behind the coup to kill the queen and had brought this scheme to the Empire. This piece of classified information had been shared with some of the Saint Disciples earlier that morning.
“We’ll capture the queen and burn down the palace, save for the Solar Spire. I think that’s practically revealing everything.”
“We don’t need to worry about that.”
“Your mission is simple. You shall invade the palace using our strongest soldiers and capture the queen and all those purebreds who accompany her.”
“…You make it sound so simple…” Risya smiled wanly, flipping through the list of witches, which had been prepared ahead of time, on the round table.
This roster was just another thing provided by the Hydra.
“So the queen is A-class, Growley, the head of the Zoa, is B-class, Kissing is C-class… And the Ice Calamity Witch Aliceliese, blah-blah-blah…”
This operation wasn’t on “hard” mode. It was nearly impossible.
After all, the Imperial forces had never managed to catch a purebred in the century-long war. And the Eight Great Apostles were requesting they capture two…minimum.
“What do you mean? It isn’t a big deal.”
“We’re not asking you to decimate the Sovereignty. You simply need to hunt down two witches or sorcerers.”
“…Sounds like a hell of a big deal to me.” Risya glanced at her colleague on the ground. “By the way, what’s your plan, Mei?”
“Me? Nothing in particular. Just gonna play it by ear.” She snorted, looking at the witch list. “Aha. The Ice Calamity Witch, huh? Isn’t that the one that got away, Names? She almost got you.”
“Wouldn’t you like to know.” The man gave an empty reply from the edge of the round table. “We’re not going to run into our desired targets. I’ll hunt them as they come at me.”
“So you’re basically going with Plan Mei,” she trilled.
“It seems so.”
“Looks like we’re on the same wavelength. Wanna go out for a bite to eat after this?”
“Never ,” Nameless spat, turning around, looking away from the Eight Great Apostles on the monitors.
“Heading out, Nameless?”
“You have some of the Empire’s best killing techniques. We anticipate you will act accordingly.”
Nameless did not respond.
Mei and Risya got up and left on separate elevators.
The red-haired swordsman had been left behind.
“Joheim, you’re going after the queen.”
“You may ignore the rest. She will certainly be in the Queen’s Space. Our only concern is that the Ice Calamity Witch may be with her—”
“She isn’t there .” The Saint Disciple opened his eyes. Adjusting his thin, long sword on his back, the Flash Knight stood up.
“The Ice Calamity Witch is currently not in the palace.”
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